Augusta woman who burglarized Travis Mills' Manchester home is sentenced
Tiffany Fitzpatrick will spend nine months behind bars after stealing from the under-construction home belonging to the quadruple-amputee veteran.
By Betty AdamsKennebec Journal
AUGUSTA — A city woman who admitted stealing from the site of quadruple-amputee veteran Travis Mills' home in Manchester while it was under construction will serve nine months behind bars for that and a series of other burglaries and thefts.
Tiffany Fitzpatrick, 26, of Augusta, will be placed on three years' probation with the remainder of her five-year sentence suspended.
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She was sentenced Wednesday in the Kennebec County Superior Court case heard in the Capital Judicial Center. She had previously pleaded guilty Feb. 10, and the case was continued to allow restitution to be calculated.
On Wednesday, Fitzpatrick was ordered to pay $4,000 restitution along with another defendant, Clinton U. Bates, 36, of Augusta.
Charges against Bates remain pending, and his case, along with a number of others, is set for jury selection on Friday.
Fitzpatrick was arrested in April 2014 following a burglary and theft in Windsor.
Fitzpatrick's sentence covers convictions on charges of unlawful trafficking in heroin and violating conditions of release, which occurred Jan. 14 in Manchester where she formerly lived, as well as a series of burglaries and thefts April 21-23, 2014, in Augusta, Manchester and Windsor.
She said little during the sentencing hearing, where she was represented by attorney Jonathan Handelman. Several other charges were dismissed in exchange for her pleas.
Fitzpatrick told police that two days before the burglary at Mills' home, she and Bates had gone to Walmart where she had stolen "two LED lights, two black gloves and a pair of vise grips" to use in the break-ins, according to an affidavit by Maine State Police Trooper Elisha Fowlie.
Fitzpatrick also told police a friend drove the pair to Pond Road in Manchester, where they scouted the construction site on Mills' property and stole multiple tools. Then they rode to Windsor and broke into another home under construction, bringing the stolen items back to their Augusta apartment.
They and others then went to various pawn shops to sell the items. Police interviewed Fitzpatrick after an air compressor reported stolen from the Windsor site was brought in to one shop.
A number of other people were sentenced this week at separate hearings in Kennebec County Superior Court cases:
• Matthew E. Ames, 49, of Benton, unlawful possession of scheduled drug in Augusta and violating condition of release in Waterville, both Oct. 24, 2014, and violating condition of release Jan. 7, 2015, in Waterville; 364-day jail sentence, all but 14 days suspended, one year probation, $400 fine.
• Timothy Godin, 22, of Lewiston, criminal trespass Aug. 8, 2013, in Belgrade; 30-day jail sentence.
• Zachariah Lathrop, 31, of Gardiner, unlawful trafficking in scheduled drugs Oct. 24, 2014, in Gardiner; $400 fine.
• Sara M. Pettengill, 33, of Gardiner, operating under the influence Nov. 22, 2014, in Hallowell; 96-hour jail sentence, $500 fine, 150-day license suspension.
• Melanie Poulin, 32, of Winslow, violating condition of release Nov. 13, 2014, in Winslow; 10-day jail sentence.
• John White, 41, of Augusta, terrorizing April 3, 2014, in Pittston; 364-day jail sentence, all but 120 days suspended, one year administrative release.
• Marcie A. Whitten, 35, of Lewiston, forgery Feb. 1, 2014, in Litchfield; three-year jail sentence, all suspended, two years' probation, $410 restitution.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
Twitter: @betadams